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A Prayer in Three Quatrains
Too well I know, I am a son of error;
Too well I know the weakness of my frame.
Yet still I plead, Lord, save me from this terror;
And of Thy mercy, blot out all my shame.
A worm, I plead in squirming desperation;
My strength has failed, I cannot raise my head.
Oh save me from the pit of desolation;
And do not leave my soul among the dead.
Great God, set me upon the rock of Zion;
Hear me, oh Lord, when I cry unto Thee.
Oh let me not be swallowed by the lion;
And let me not be swallowed by the sea.
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William Harrison is a professional photographer from Oklahoma, USA. He is currently based in the area around the city of Lawton, where he photographs the many endangered species of animals there while doing general freelance work on the side.
This is such a fervent prayer humbly felt and beautifully written.
Thank you!
Good day:
Briefly, well crafted, Mr. Harrison. As a conservative Jewish-American, I, too, am “a son of error, ” if one of the loving-masses. (Admittedly, I look forward to tonight’s debate in the hope of movin President Trump towards another successful campaign.) Your tone of conviction and humility recalls the Puritan meditations one reads found in the collection, Valley of Visions. Thank you for sharing something that poetically, spirituality, and, for me, at this very moment speaks to the tradition, the puritanical roots of poetic Americana. Albeit, “worm” is too harsh a comparison, if in the tradition of Paul; still, heartfelt the same.
Be well; be loving; “be best.”
Respectfully,
David Loring, York, Pennsylvania, USA!
Thanks! I hadn’t heard of Valley of Visions, but I’m definitely going to check it out.
Dear William,
This humble prayer is not only beautiful in thought and truth but in the lovely way it was so smoothly written. The third verse especially reminds me of the Psalms.
Gigi
I trust that things for you are not as bad as all that, but I thought this poem was as good a representation of dark mood as I have ever read. Dreary tastes a lot better than pink unicorns.
When I got to the end of the third quatrain, my thought was, “This is the real McCoy! This might just live through the ages! This might just end up in hymnals, with chorale harmonies worthy of its text!”
This prayer filled my soul with comfort. So beautifully written. There’s warmth in every line and the piece’s construction is flawless. Thanks for this, William.
Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God! The Hebrew parallelism is, as Shamik Banerjee says, flawless in its kind. I hope, William, you will tolerate my suggesting another kind of parallelism instead of the identical “swallowing” in the final two lines. You are right that both lion and sea swallow, but a psalmist is often inspired to say so in two different words. Think about it before you sign off for publication in a hymnal. The sublime text, so realistic concerning the human condition, deserves such distinction.
That’s a good point. Thank you for the advice.